Sheriff William Lee Polhemus was elected for the first time in 1985 and continues to serve Ocean County as Sheriff. During his career he has watched the population of the County grow from 346,038 to an estimated count of over 576,567 and is presently increasing by approximately 8,500 people annually. Sheriff Polhemus brings 27 years of dedicated service to the Constitutional Office of the Sheriff. He will start his 10th term in January of 2013. The Sheriff is the Chief Executive Officer of his agency which includes multiple divisions and units in which he is responsible for staffing with highly-trained professional personnel.

Sheriff Polhemus is a lifelong resident of Ocean County. He was born and raised in Seaside Heights where he attended Seaside Heights Elementary School and graduated from Toms River High School, now known as Toms River High School South. He served eight years in the military in the U.S. Naval Reserve, Lighter than Air Squadrons ZP751, ZP752, and ZP753. He was involved in active duty with the Naval Air Reserve Training Command and received an honorable discharge as Petty Officer, 2nd class.